Mata Hari
by Sorciere
Summary: Rogue grows up. Scott watches.


Disclaimer: It's not illegal until you get caught.  
Title: Mata Hari  
Rating: PG (Scott POV - go figure)  
Series: None  
Pairing: R/L (implied)  
Summary: Rogue grows up. Scott watches.   
  
A/N: This Rogue has a lot more comic-verse characteristics than she usually has in my fics, but what   
the hell...  
  
***  
  
She was only a girl when she first came to the school. She was seventeen and had been on the road for   
eight months. Already she was known only as Rogue, and already she was able to wrap any man around her   
little finger.   
  
You don't believe me? Well, take a look around - Mr. 'I Don't Care About Anyone' Wolverine risked his   
life for her about having known her for mere *days*. Bobby and St. John became rivals for her attention   
the moment they saw her. The new student, Remy, flirts with anyone but seems to have taken a special   
interest in Rogue.  
  
Strange, isn't it? You would think that people would stay away from her because of her skin, but instead   
they flock around her like mosquitoes near a flame.  
But then again...we males have an odd habit of wanting what we can't have. And Rogue is the epitome of   
'untouchable' - in more ways than one.  
  
It didn't exactly help matter when Rogue learned to trust us enough to let her guards down and have some   
fun. It turned out that yes, Rogue was in some way an innocent teenage girl, but usually that was just   
a mask, a mean to achieve her goal. And trust me...innocent, frightened Rogue is a lot easier to deal   
with than confident, sensual Rogue who is doing her best to live up to the name she chose.  
  
But Rogue never trusted us completely. She had already seen too much, experienced too much, to be able   
to lower her defenses completely. Well, at least around most people. She could confide in Logan and   
trusted him enough to show him her real self.   
And strange as it may sound...she trusts me. Not the Professor, not Storm, but me. Scott Summers, the   
oh-so-Fearless-Leader and the last person I'd expected her to open up to, now that she has Logan in her   
mind.  
  
Apparently I was wrong. We are on a first name basis (granted, Rogue has yet to tell me her real name,   
but you get my point) and if we're awake at night - she because of nightmares, I because of headaches -   
we sit on the balcony and talk.  
  
Late one night I asked her about it.  
  
"It's actually pretty simple, sugar," Rogue explained. "We've both got uncontrollable powers and in a   
way, we're both deprived of one of our senses. As much as I like Storm and the Professor, they'd never   
be able to understand what I'm going through. And, well, as a general rule, I just don't trust Jean...no   
offense," she quickly added.  
  
I sent her a rueful smile.  
  
"None taken. Sometimes, not even *I* trust her," I admitted.  
  
Rogue raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Because of Logan?"  
  
I shrugged.  
  
"That, and a whole lot of other small things. I don't blame Logan for flirting with her, you know. I'm   
so used to Jean flirting with other men that it doesn't really bother me anymore. Sometimes, I try to   
talk to her about it, but she just says that it's only a little flirting and that she would never cheat   
on me."  
  
"But...then why do you stay with her?" Rogue asked confused.  
  
I paused for a second.  
  
"Because...I guess it's because it's a comfortable relationship. This way, neither of us will be alone.   
What we have...it's not wild, passionate love, but it's better than nothing."  
  
Rogue's gaze locked with mine and for a moment I was sure that she could look straight through me.   
  
Then she sent me a little smile and shook her head.  
  
"Scott, Scott, Scott...you sound so sure about that. Have you ever really though about the alternatives?   
Or are you afraid of change, sugar?"  
  
She stood up and left, but her words remained burned into my memory. In a way, they let me see the world   
in a whole new perspective. Rogue's perspective.  
  
Like the dance the students held recently. They turned the main hall into a pretty good imitation of a   
club and danced the night away, so to speak.  
  
Jean had just returned from a conference and went to bed early. I knew that I'd hear more than enough   
music that night, so I went for a late-night walk in the gardens before I returned inside to play   
chaperone. Before I headed down to the chaos, I stopped on the top of the stairs and just watched as the   
crowd on the floor danced to some Latino song.  
  
A few rhythmic lines of lyrics reached me and I vaguely recognized the song as one of Ricky Martin's.  
  
/You're a Mata Hari. I wanna know your story./  
  
A flash of white and auburn hair caught my attention and I smirked as the irony of the situation   
occurred to me.   
  
Mata Hari. How very appropriate.   
  
Because, in a way, that's what she was. Exotic, desirable, untamable.   
  
"It is good to see her enjoy herself," someone said.   
  
I turned my head and saw Storm standing beside me. I raised an eyebrow and Storm nodded in Rogue's   
direction.  
  
I nodded in agreement. Rogue did indeed look like she was having fun. The distance between Rogue and the   
others gave me an excellent opportunity to watch her. A skimpy, dark green top, a tight, black leather   
skirt and matching gloves. Probably a skin-colored body suit, too, I mused. Her current dance-partner   
was Remy, but, knowing the Rogue, she would probably find another soon.  
  
"It looks like she is starting to fall for Remy," Storm commented with a smile.   
  
At that point, I almost choked, but quickly covered my surprise.  
  
"Yes, it does," I managed to say.  
  
Good GOD! Was I really the only one who could see the real Rogue? Okay, I admit that Rogue can be hard   
to read, but really...had *everyone* forgotten the meaning of the tags around Rogue's neck?  
Apparently, yes, I decided as I headed down the stairs.   
  
I knew that Rogue's heart belonged to Logan and that this - the flirting with the boys, her provocative   
clothes and sensual movements - was just practice. Practice and entertainment while she waited for Logan   
to return.  
  
The Rogue still had a battle to fight. Her prey was Logan and her competitor was Jean. And she was not   
going to let the Wolverine slip through her fingers.  
  
She had explained it to me on one of those nights and had then added, only half joking:  
  
"Isn't it now you're supposed to say 'Jean wouldn't go after Logan'?"  
  
I'd just shrugged.  
  
"We both know that I'd be lying."  
  
So the Rogue prepared to fight, and she practiced her strategies on the male population of the school.   
Beautiful, dangerous, mysterious...she could have picked any man she wanted. Including me.  
  
What? Don't look at me like that. I'm a man and I've been at the receiving end of Rogue's Southern   
charm. It's the kind of thing that makes me seriously start to think about breaking up with Jean and   
pursuing Rogue instead.   
  
But usually, Rogue stuck to flirting with the male students and the occasional 'hot' guy when she,   
Jubilee and Kitty hit the town in the weekends.   
  
I once asked Rogue if she left me alone only because of my engagement ring, or if she had other reasons.  
  
"I like you, sugar," was her reply, "and that's why I don't flirt with you. I couldn't care less about   
that ring, but if we got involved, you would eventually end up getting hurt. And I don't want that to   
happen."  
  
In a strange way I felt flattered by her words. Rogue had crushed plenty of hearts without a second   
thought but she liked and respected me enough to play straight with me. It's kind of like the loyalty of   
a wild animal - it means so much not because it's loyalty, but because it comes from someone untamed.   
Maybe it's because I'm not used to being around someone like Rogue. There is not anyone on Mutant High   
who is quite as free as she is, deadly mutations aside. Jubilee wants to appear wild but deep inside   
she's already tame. Remy is a gambler, a womanizer, but he still feels loyal to us - and to a certain   
extent the Thieves Guild as well.  
Rogue...Rogue doesn't feel that she owes her loyalty to anyone. They have to earn it. She stays at the   
school for two reasons only: It'll be easier for her to find out when Logan returns and she hasn't been   
bored enough to leave.  
It's that simple. No debts of loyalty, no desperate need to feel our company. She stays because of   
convenience.   
Rogue went to the hard school called Reality. That school has only two grades - Alive or Dead. And   
because of that, Rogue doesn't feel guilty about using other people for personal gain. She feels guilty   
if she absorbs someone, but this? No.   
She once told me that nothing short of murder will make her conscience react. She didn't tell me how she   
knew. And I didn't ask.  
  
Rogue is sensual, dangerous and attractive. But she's also ruthless, cunning and cold-blooded. She's a   
blazing fire - if you keep a safe distance she is beautiful and warm. If you get too close she will burn   
or kill you.   
  
The Mata Hari - seductress and spy. Much as I hate to admit it, even *I* am half in love with her. But   
she is not mine and she will never be.  
  
She is the Mata Hari of Mutant High.  
  
I can only hope that she will not follow the same path as her namesake.   
  
  
~End~ 


End file.
